


As The Crows Fly

by n7chelle



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read, Pro-Bending, Seriously what is this because, Why? I don't know, and, instead of volleyball, it's 5am guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 16:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4673090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n7chelle/pseuds/n7chelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's tryout time for the pro-bending team at Karasuno Academy.  Tall, Dark, and Broody is kind of a jerk, but Hinata's not about to let that stop him from showing what he can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As The Crows Fly

**Author's Note:**

> So this came out while I was just messing around, trying to get my writer brain chugging (at 23:30, what was I thinking). I'm new to the writing side of fics, but it's 5am and I figure, what the heck, why not? Someone out there might actually like this completely random Haikyuu!!/Legend of Korra fusion, even if it's probably chock full of errors and loose grammar and bad vocabulary. Not exactly what I would have expected to post as my first fic, but whatever!
> 
> Anyways, enjoy, whoever you might be.

 

Tryouts, finally!

Hinata could barely contain his excitement as he lined up with his new classmates, a cloud of nervously confident first-years with aspirations of pro-bending glory. His palms were sweating and sparking with heat, eager flames refusing to be quelled. His spot in line gradually trickled up to the front of the gym, where a coach confirmed his name and directed him towards another pair a boys gathered around a stack of earthbending disks and a metal basin of water. 

"Hi!" Hinata said brightly, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. "Hinata Shoyou, I'm from the next town over." He grinned, big and wide, so full of energy that it was a struggle to keep his flames under control. But he wanted to look good (that is, normal) in front of his prospective teammates, so he tugged the fire down inside, wrapping it in a mental shroud the way the ladies in the intramural club at the community center taught him.

One of the boys, an average looking guy with freckles scattered all over his nose and cheeks, smiled back meekly and jerked his head in a nod. The other one, a taller boy radiating tension like a visible aura, spared Hinata a brief glance so sharp it felt like a knife passing over his skin. He snorted dismissively and when back to brooding in the still depths (more like shallows) of the basin. He must be the waterbender then, which made his friendlier companion--

"Earthbender, right?" Hinata guessed, sticking out his hand for Freckles to shake

"Uh," said Freckles. He grasped Hinata's hand after an awkward delay. "Yamata--Tadachi--I mean, yeah, earthbending, that's my thing. But. Um. Wait, no, I mean, my name. I got it--it's not..." Yamata Tadachi trailed off with a thready exhale, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else at that exact moment.

"Yamaguchi." Another student from the neighboring trio slid over, a tall blond with athletic glasses strapped over his eyes. He towered over the nervous earthbender, and positively dwarfed Hinata (though that wasn't hard to do), just like tall, dark and broody with the basin. The stranger laid a steady, long-fingered hand on the earthbender's shoulder, squeezing once and then retreating back to his own team. Yamaguchi sucked in a deep breath, held it for several long seconds, and then let the air out with deliberate care, clearly making an effort to calm himself. When his eyes opened again, there was ironclad resolve in his gaze, thrown up like a shield against that fumbling nervousness.

"Yamaguchi Tadashi," he said, this time steady and confident. He shook Hinata's still outstretched hand firmly.

"Nice ta meet ya," Hinata said, still smiling. A little politeness and warmth went a long way, his mother always said.

They didn't get to chat beyond that, as their attention was drawn to the raised practice ring at the front of the gym by the round bell ringing out a couple times. The low murmur of voices faded out as everyone turned to regard the coaches gathered in the ring. 

"Good afternoon, everyone." The oldest coach, a stern looking man with a deep, booming voice addressed the crowd of expectant students. He stood stiffly at attention, feet planted like the consummate earthbender Hinata suspected he must be. "First off, welcome to Karasuno. My name is Ukai Ikkei, senior pro-bending coach. I'm glad to see so many new faces today. Our academy has a long legacy of pro-bending excellence, one that I'm sure each and every one of you would like the chance to continue." 

Ukai thumped down from the platform and began to weave in between the trios. "Unfortunately, excellence is exclusionary. Pro-bending is not for the weak, the unsure, or the indifferent. Not all of you are cut out for the intensity and commitment that standard requires. Some of you will try your best and still not be selected. However, know that whether you join this team or not, their is honor in the attempt, and you have already earned my respect simply for setting foot on this training floor."

As he passed by Hinata's team, he could feel Ukai's hard stare land squarely on his diminutive person as surely as a lead weight on his shoulders. Hinata glared back--respectfully--hoping that his drive and determination to succeed were conveyed in his gaze. Maybe he imagined it, but it felt like Ukai gave him the barest of nods before he moved on, making his way back up to the ring. He rejoined the other two coaches and the one that had called Hinata's name stepped forward. Like Ukai, he wore a red jacket and pants with the Karasuno Crow emblazoned across his chest.

"Ukai Keishin," he declared, his voice lighter but no less strong. "Sparring and practice coach. I figure one fancy speech is enough, so let's get straight to why you're all here." He hopped down from the ring and started tossing out orange and black scrimmage jerseys while a female student circulated with a rolling crate of helmets. 

Ukai Keishin was the infamous grandson of the renowned pro-bending coach Ukai Ikkei, with an already legendary record as a pro-bender himself. A lightning injury had cut short his promising career, and he'd returned to the academy to coach the next generation of up-and-coming pro-benders alongside his father. His hair was a wild mane of gold, slicked back and pinned around the crown of his head like a wild wreath of fire. Hinata had dreamed of being this close to the legenday "Agni Ukai," drooling over his tournament and exhibition matches, watching and rewatching his demonstrations for the secrets to his amazing skill. He'd give anything to actually spar with him one on one, if only for the ten seconds he would probably last. Ukai was a firebending monster, both in and out of the ring.

Hinata and his teammates received orange jerseys and were paired up with a black trio including Yamaguchi's friend. Glasses gave Yamaguchi another supporting slap on the shoulder before they split up and took their places in the queue; black teams to one side of the training ring, orange on the other. Broody still hadn't said a word to either of them.

The first stage of tryouts was a trial-by-fire test of teamwork. Each pair stepped into the ring for a five minute mini-match, trying--and mostly failing--to find a rhythm in the allotted three-hundred seconds. Hinata split his attention between the matches, the coaches blank (but certainly assessing) stares, and studying his still-silent teammate from the corner of his eye. Broody's unblinking eyes were dark pinpricks of focus, locked on the training ring and twitching faintly in reaction to some ongoing internal analysis. Hinata was so drawn in by the subtle play of emotions on his tense face, that he didn't realize their turn had come until Broody turned and met his gaze directly, his mouth finally opening to say--

"Just try not to get in my way, shrimp."

* * *

_Try not to get it my way, shrimp_. Those were the first words Kageyama Tobio said to the boy who would become his best and greatest teammate. But of course, neither of them had any idea about that at the time. How could they?

* * *

Keishin resisted the urge to yawn as another team of hopefuls hopped into the ring. So far, he hadn't seen any promising candidates, and he'd already eliminated half of the students from the roster in his head. His father caught his eye from across the ring, heavy with meaning. Keishin glanced at the incoming team, quirked one pierced eyebrow, and dutifully swiped his right hand over the nonexistent sweat at his temple. Message received. 

He recognized the tall, dark haired boy in this group--Kitagawa Daiichi's waterbending prodigy Kageyama Tobio. Smart money had been on Kageyama getting scouted by the pro-bending powerhouse Shiratorizawa; at least it  _had_  been until his disastrous final junior high match. Pro-bending media had a field day with the poor kid's worst performance ever, and no one was surprised by his conspicuous absence from every event that followed. He hadn't even participated in the post-season training camp, leading to a virulent rumor that he meant to quit the sport entirely. Whatever else had happened, at least he was still playing. It would've been a shame to see a kid with that much raw talent throw in the towel, Keishin thought, unable to ignore the faint twinge in his chest at the remembrance of his own unexpectedly truncated career. Hopefully Kageyama had used his summer in solitude to reflect on his weaknesses as a team player.

* * *

Hinata's tenuous calm was rapidly fraying as he mounted the steps into the training ring. He wanted to say something encouraging to Yamaguchi, who'd started coming apart at the seams almost from the moment they'd got in line, but he couldn't push past the condescending sneer in his head-- _Try not to get in **my**  way_. As if  _he_  were the only worthwhile member of the team, as if only  _his_  moves mattered,  _as if, as if, as if_. Hinata's brain threatened to spiral out of control, but then he caught sight of Glasses across the ring; relaxed, centered, ready for action. Hinata shook himself, pushing away his annoyance and focusing on the task at hand--Broody had better stay out of  _his_  way, because Hinata wasn't about to kick back and let that jerk run the show. He was finally getting a chance to show someone what he could do, and he was damned well about to do his best at. For god's sake, Keishin freaking Ukai was watching!

Hinata bounced his feet, tugged down his helmet, and took a deep breath. 

* * *

Kageyama settled on his toes, tugged down his helmet, and took a deep breath.

"BEGIN!"

The ring immediately erupted into chaos. Behind him, the twitchy earthbender started punching disks into enemy territory. He had the basics down, decent form, but his stance was too heavy for the fast pace of pro-bending and his shots suffered accordingly. He didn't spare a though for the tiny firebender. He'd been so obviously out of his depth from the moment Kageyama laid eyes on him, he wasn't worth the brainpower.

On the opposing team, the black earthbender was even less prepared. He hardly moved at all, feet planted like tree trunks in classic earthbender form. It was a piece of cake to knock one of his heels out of place and then follow it up with a smack to his opposite shoulder. He rolled back a zone, dazed and clueless as to how his infallible earthbender balance had failed him.

The firebender was another study in cliches; all spinning firewheels and dramatic yet ineffectively slow plumes. There was so much movement and energy wasted on looking fancy as he danced around in sloppy parodies of traditional forms that Kageyama honestly wasn't surprised when his earthbender teammate managed to land a lucky shot and knock the firebender back two zones. 

That just left Kageyama's counterpart, the glasses-wearing waterbender who's name he'd overheard was Tsukishima. Of everyone he'd watched, only Tsukishima showed any real skill. His style was deceptively lazy, focused on dodging and defending rather than pressing an offense, but he was still holding the first zone one his own. Kageyama admired his discipline and respected his abilities as a fellow waterbender, but he'd come here to win. Leaving the stragglers to squabble among themselves, Kageyama redoubled his efforts to knock Tsukishima out of the match. 

In retrospect, it's no wonder he didn't see it coming. He'd blocked out the rest of the match, relying on the incompetence of his opponents and teammates alike to cancel each other out. That was his first mistake.

The disks caught him out of nowhere, and suddenly Kageyama realized his earthbender had been knocked out of the ring. The enemy firebender was gone as well, but Tsukishima was essentially a one-man-wall in zone one, protecting his teammate from any and all attacks...

A battlecry at Kageyama's side caught him off guard, and his attention snapped left, expecting to see the diminutive firebender flung from the ring, but instead--Kageyama froze, dumbfounded.

What was he _seeing_?

That tiny kid, who barely looked old enough to even attend Karasuno, was a literal wildfire of energy, spinning and flipping in tightly controlled arcs, curving tongues of flame around Tsukishima's impenetrable shield while dodging the lead-footed earthbender's strikes. Kageyama saw the moment Tsukishima switch onto the offensive, and leapt in to defend the firebender.

And that's how it happened.

Back to back and side by side, Kageyama and the little firebender danced around each other in the ring for the final minute, never getting in each other's way, never leaving each other open for attack, responding on instinct as though they'd been teammates for years instead of a mere four minutes. With Kageyama occupying Tsukishima, the enemy earthbender went down in seconds, leaving the two of them to deal with just Tsukishima. Kageyama's respect hadn't been misplaced, and he almost fought them to a stalemate, the remaining seconds ticking down, but Kagayama wanted to _win_ this. As if he could read Kageyama's mind, his firebender teammate caught his eye and nodded sharply at the split-second instruction. Kageyama corralled Tsukishima into the center of his zone with a volley of waterwhip strikes, trading blows and keeping his attention focused on himself. Tsukishima never even saw the firebender coming. 

* * *

On the orange side, Ukai Keishin pinched himself. He wasn't dreaming. He did it again just to be sure.

* * *

On the black side, Ukai Ikkei allowed himself a small, private smile. Yasufumi wouldn't know what hit him, come tournament time. Perhaps it was finally time to arrange a proper rematch, to settle their old score. And maybe--just maybe--it would surpass the matches of their time, a new chapter in the legendary Battles of the Trash Heap...

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it down here...thanks for reading!
> 
> And if you caught any glaring mistakes, lemme know, I'll fix em. Thanks again!


End file.
